The present invention relates to the field of business processes. More specifically, the present invention relates to managing business processes in a business process center.
In business process centers, a business process is a sequence of operational activities which are followed by various individuals to achieve a particular business goal. Further, the operational activities are often manual activities which are executed by individuals, also known as agents. These agents play various roles in the business with respect to customers and other business partners.
Business processes are generally categorized as back office and front office processes. Front office business processes include various customer service activities such as sales, marketing, tech support, answering customer queries, and the like. The customers connect with the business process center through telephone, email, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), web callback, Internet chat, and the like. Similarly, back office processes include business activities such as order processing, fault clearance, and the like.
Presently, business processes are widely enabled by Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES). Various software applications are developed to carry out the business processes in an efficient manner. Further, the software applications are changed/modified regularly on the basis of the requirements of the business. Thereafter, integration of the modified software applications with the existing applications corresponding to the business processes is done by the IT department of the client of the business process center. Further, prior to the integration, the software applications need to pass through various Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) phases. Consequently, this process increases the time required to integrate the applications, and moreover, changing the existing applications accordingly also consumes a considerable amount of time.
Existing business process centers use software applications that have various redundant features such as manually inputting various data items to carry out various tasks, and separately entering log-in credentials related to each of the software applications to execute the processes. Such redundant tasks decrease the interest of the agent towards work, thereby decreasing the efficiency and increasing the attrition rate. Further, in major business process centers the agents are trained on various applications independently. Therefore, this increases the stress levels of the agents to remember the use, need and functionality of each of the applications. Furthermore, the business process centers fail to provide effective Management Information System (MIS). Therefore, it is very difficult to track the activities of the agents, for example, the agents not reporting to the office at the right time.
In light of the above discussion, there is a need for a method and a system for enabling easy integration of new/modified applications with the existing applications, and thereby making the integration a technology independent process. Further, the method and system should provide an easy and efficient authentication mechanism to automate the redundant activities and also facilitate training on the applications concurrently, thereby increasing the productivity and efficiency. Furthermore, there should be efficient tracking of the various activities that is performed by the agent in the business process center.